Waterproof suits



' Feb. 10,1970. cm 3,493,912

. vim-mace; sun's Filed Dec. 26. 1967 WALTER Gi /33F? fii lww fiwww ATTOR N6 Y United States Patent 3,493,972 WATERPROOF SUITS Walter Oldham, Rochdale, England, assignor to Frankenstein Group Limited, a British company Filed Dec. 26, 1967, Ser. No. 693,225 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Jan. 3, 1967,

253/67 Int. Cl. B63c 11/04 U.S. Cl. 22.1 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to waterproof suits of the type intended to be worn during immersion or underwater operations to exclude moisture from the users underwear and to insulate his body from the chill of the ambient liquid.

It is a simple matter to arrange that a one-piece garment of this type shall completely enclose the wearers feet or be watertightly connectable at the leg-ends to rubber boots, as well as to provide it with elastic cuffs which make watertight engagement With the wrists after the hands have been thrust through them.

The use of a continuous elastic seal around the neck aperture of the garment, whilst obviously desirable, complicates the putting-on and taking-off of the garment, because it means that the wearer cannot enter or leave the garment with the same case as if it were a normal onepiece suit with a centre-front opening.

When the entry opening, which requires to be watertightly closable, is arranged diagonally of the garment front from shoulder to hip the garment cannot be put on unless made with sufiicient length from neck to crotch to enable the intending wearer to pull its upper part over his head after inserting his arms and legs.

In garments hitherto produced the required excess body length, amounting to some 6 inches when a diagonal front opening is provided, has proved a considerable inconvenience, (particularly in the case of aircrew entering a helicopter) inasmuch as the fullness present below the crotch tends to limit the extent to which the wearer can lift his legs.

The present invention has for its object to remedy the above defect of existing one-piece waterproof suits having a continuous elastic seal around the neck aperture.

According to this invention, there is provided, across the back of the garment, a closable gusset deep enough, when unfastened, to provide sufiicient body length for the intending wearer of the garment to pass his head through the neck aperture after inserting his legs and arms.

In the accompanying drawings, constituting a part hereof and in which like reference characters indicate like parts:

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a prior art suit;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the suit of the present invention showing the gusset in the open position;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the present invention with the neck aperture partially over the head of the wearer;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2 showing the gusset partially closed; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the front opening virtually closed.

In the example illustrated, the invention is applied to a known form of garment, with a diagonal front opening which is closable by means of a waterproof slidefastener A and extends from shoulder to hip so as not to interfere with a continuous elastic seal B around the neck aperture. The garment has conventional wrist seals C and provision is made at the bottom of the legs for the attachment of waterproof socks D or rubber boots.

Across the back of the garment, between opposite side seams thereof and conveniently at waist level, is a gusset E which has an extended depth of about 6 inches and whose edges can be brought together by means of a further slide-fastener F.

In putting-on the garment, which may be made of either impermeable or impervious fabric in known manner, the intending wearer first releases the slide-fasteners A, F and climbs in, legs first, through the front opening.

The unfastened gusset E provides sufiicient length in the back of the garment to allow the wearer to pull the neck seal B over his head without any bodily contortions (FIGS. 2 and 3).

Subsequently, the gusset E is closed by means of the slide-fastener F (FIG. 4), which eliminates any unwanted fullness below the crotch and causes the garment to fit snugly to the body when the front fastener A is secured as shown in FIG. 5.

What I claim is:

1. A waterproof one-piece suit comprising a body portion with an entry opening extending down the front thereof from shoulder to hip level, a continuous neckfitting elastic cuff joined to said body portion, watertight closure means for said entry opening, a transverse gusset let into the back of said body portion, sufficient length in said gusset for the wearer, after insertion of hi arms and legs, to pass his head through said cuff, and means for subsequently securing the longitudinal edges of said gusset together to eliminate excess length in said body portion.

2. A waterproof one-piece suit as claimed in claim 1, and wherein the closure means for the gusset comprises a slide-fastener adapted to secure its edges together.

3. A waterproof one-piece suit as claimed in claim 1, and wherein the gusset extends from. side to side of the garment at waist level.

4. A waterproof one-piece suit as claimed in claim 1, and wherein the entry opening extends diagonally of the front thereof, from shoulder to hip, and closure means for said opening.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,478,126 8/1949 Ostby 22.l 2,517,748 8/1950 Williams 2-82 3,391,405 7/1968 Wiswell 22.1 3,421,188 1/1969 Rock 22.1 XR

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner E. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner 

